Cell injury
Cell injury results when cells are stressed and can no longer adapt
3 things that degree of injury depends on :
Process of responding to injury
• Homeostasis
• Cellular adaptation – to the change
• Cellular injury
• Cell death = when injury is irreversible
—> Cell injury results when cells are stressed and can no longer adapt
Causes of cell injury
• Hypoxia – lack of oxygen • Toxins • Physical agents – Direct trauma – Extremes of temperature – Changes in pressure – Electric currents • Radiation • Micro-organisms - infection • Immune mechanisms – macrophages, neutrophils • Dietary insufficiency and deficiencies, dietary excess – cell energy sources
What is hypoxia?
—-> Hypoxia is a deficiency of oxygen that can result in a reduction in aerobic oxidative respiration. Extremely important common cause of cell injury/cell death.
What do hypoxia tumours snow ?
4 types of hypoxia
Hypoxaemic hypoxia – arterial content of oxygen is low
Anaemic hypoxia – decreased ability of haemoglobin to carry oxygen
Histiocytic hypoxia – inability to utilise oxygen in cells due to disabled oxidative phosphorylation enzymes
Ischaemic hypoxia - interruption to blood supply
Ischaemia
—> ischaemia = insufficient blood flow to provide adequate oxygenation
Examples of injury causing toxins
How does immune system cause cell injury?
What are free radicals?
Reactive Oxygen Species
• Single unpaired electron in an outer orbit – an unstable configuration hence react with other molecules, often producing further free radicals
Production of free radicals - 5 methods
3 things that control free radicals
Free radicals mechanism of cell injury
How does cell protect itself against injury?
—> aim to correct the mistake
• Heat shock proteins – try to correct misfolded proteins
Heat shock protein
Diagnosing cell death - staining
The diagnosis of cell death in short time is best measure on their functional capability rather than morphologic criteria, e.g., increased permeability of the cell membrane.
1. Add dye to cell mixture 2. Dye can only go into cells if there are pores and gaps in membrane 3. So dye only passes into membrane of damaged cells 4. Only dead cells are stained as blue 5. Live cells are intact and remain unstained
Necrosis definition
—> Necrosis: in a living organism the morphologic changes that occur after a cell has been dead some time. Damage to intracellular organelles
• Seen after 12-24 hours
→ protein denaturation and enzyme release
4 types of necrosis
Coagulative
Liquefactive
Caseous
Fat
Coagulative necrosis
•Denaturation of proteins dominates over release of active proteases.
•Cellular architecture is somewhat preserved, “ghost outline” of cells.
1. Protein starts to get denatured
2. Ghost outline of cell is present
- see lots of neutrophils
Shape of cell can be seen but proteins have been denatured
→ check image on 1.1
Liquefactive necrosis
→ mainly in the brain due to very high concentration of lysosymes
Caseous necrosis
Contains amorphous (structureless) debris. (no ghost outline like seen in coagulative necrosis).
• Structureless debris
•Particularly associated with infections, especially tuberculosis.- lung
→ tissue almost looks smooth , no cell outlines as original tissue architecture is lost
Fat necrosis
Gangrene
Necrosis visible to the naked eye
- appearance of necrosis